THE GOOD REUBEN JAMES
Posted On: 10/28/11
Written By: Peter Ayers Wimbrow III
*Click images below to view larger versions.
U.S.S. Rueben James
Songster Woody Guthrie, 1943
Seaman REUBEN JAMES saving the life of Stephen Decatur.
Captain Erich Topp (r) aboard U-552, returning to St. Nazaire, France, October 6, 1941.
The late George Bert. Cropper 1945.
Boatswain's Mate Rueben James.
SS David H. Atwater
Pete Seeger
Reuben James stamp issued in 1991.
Crew of U-552 with its commander, Erich Topp, standing, center-left, with binoclears and white hat.
German stamp honoring Erich Topp issued in 1944.
Seventy years ago, songster, Woody Guthrie, asked,
“Have you heard of a ship called the Good Reuben James?
Manned by hard-fighting men, both of honor and fame.
She flew the Stars and Stripes of the land of the free,
but tonight she’s in her grave at the bottom of the sea.
Tell me what were their names, tell me what were their names?
Did you have a friend on The Good Reuben James?
What were their names, tell me, what were their names?
Did you have a friend on The Good Reuben James?”
Chances are that you didn’t have a friend on “The Good Reuben James.” It was a four-funneled Clemson class destroyer, which was commissioned on September 24, 1920. It was 314 feet long, weighed 1190 tons and had a top speed of 35 knots. Its main armament was a 3-inch and four 4-inch, guns, supplemented by twelve 21-inch torpedo tubes.
By this time, 70 years ago, although the U.S. had yet to enter the war, the United States Navy was assisting our British cousins by convoying ships to Iceland bound for Great Britain. At Iceland, British warships assumed escort duties. The convoy that the Reuben James was helping to escort was convoy HX156. HX indicated that the ships departed from Halifax, Nova Scotia. The other escorting ships for HX156 were the United States destroyers Niblack, Tarbell, Benson and Hillary P. Jones. The convoy’s ultimate destination was Liverpool. It departed Canada on October 23, 1941.
As Guthrie tells it, “`Twas the last day of October we saved the forty-four
From the cold icy waters off that cold icy Iceland shore.”
“It was there in the dark of that uncertain night that we watched for the U-boats and waited for a fight.”
The “Rube” had been ordered to investigate a faint radio transmission. Just as it was changing position, a torpedo fired from U-552, meant for one of the merchantmen, struck the “Rube” in its forward magazine.
“Then a whine and a rock and a great explosion roared and they laid the Reuben James on the cold ocean floor.”
The bow section of the “Rube” was blown off and sank immediately, taking the captain, Lt. Commander Heywood L. Edwards, and most of the officers. The rest of the crew abandoned ship. But there had been no time to defuse the depth charges. When they reached a depth of 50 feet, they exploded.
“When the good ship went down only 44 were saved” (out of a crew of 159).
The following year, construction began on the “Rube’s” namesake, a destroyer escort which was commissioned on April 1, 1943. The current Reuben James is a guided missile frigate based at Pearl Harbor. In July of that year, construction began on the destroyer Heywood L. Edwards, which saw service in the Pacific.
After Pete Seeger and Guthrie sang Guthrie’s song on CBS Radio, the headline of one newspaper, the next day, read, “COMMIE FOLKSINGERS TRY TO INFILTRATE RADIO.”
The U-552 was commanded by Kapitän Leutnant Erich Topp, who was already a recipient of the Knight’s Cross. The submarine was 13 months old. It had departed its base at St. Nazaire, France, on October 25, 1941. The fatal torpedo was fired about 600 miles west of Iceland. U-552 was nicknamed “Roter Teufel” (“Red Devil”) because it sported a grinning devil painted on its conning tower. After 33 days, the Roter Teufel returned to base.
Although the U-552, and its captain, miraculously survived the war, both were involved in the controversial sinking of the SS David H. Atwater, under the command of William K. Webster, an unarmed coastal steamer, which was hauling coal to Massachusetts, from Norfolk, Virginia. The attack occurred 10 miles off Assateague, Virginia, on the evening of April 2, 1942. The German submarine surfaced and pumped 50 shells into the small freighter from its deck gun. Even as it began sinking, the sub’s crew opened up with machine guns, striking the Atwater’s crew as they attempted to man the life boats. When the Coast Guard cutter Leagre arrived, it found the life boats with dead crew men riddled by machine-gun fire. There were three survivors from a crew of 27. The Leagre delivered the three survivors and four bodies to Chincoteague Coast Guard Station. The rest of the bodies that were recovered were brought to Ocean City, where they were transported, in a pick-up from the boat, to the Ocean City ice plant, then located on Philadelphia Avenue and Somerset Street. There they were iced for shipment to Norfolk. Local resident George Bert. Cropper was called to help in the preparation of the bodies. When asked if the cause of death was apparent, i.e., drowning or gunshot, he said that all died of gunshot wounds and that the bullet wounds were readily apparent. Local resident Frances Mumford, whose brother-in-law, Allen Mumford, worked at the ice plant, remembers there being about a dozen bodies. Neither Captain Topp, nor anyone else, was ever charged with the crime. Captain Topp, the third most successful U-boat captain, later became a Rear-Admiral in the postwar navy of American ally West Germany.
The Reuben James had been named for boatswains’ mate Reuben James who was born in Delaware about 1776, and who served with Lieutenant Stephen Decatur during the famous raid to burn the Philadelphia in the Harbor of Tripoli, Libya, on February 16, 1804. During that engagement James positioned himself between Lieutenant Decatur and a sword-wielding Barbary pirate, taking the blow from the sword. He did survive, as did the Lieutenant. Reuben James continued to serve his country, in the U.S. Navy, until January 1836, when he was forced to retire because of ill health. He died, on December 3,1838, at the U.S. Naval Hospital in Washington, D.C.
Twenty years after the sinking, The Kingston Trio included Guthrie’s song on their album “Close-Up,” with slightly different lyrics. The album reached #3 on the charts and was nominated for a Grammy. Among other differences, the Trio noted that,
“Many years have passed since those brave men are gone,
Those cold icy waters, they’re still and they’re calm.
Many years have passed and still I wonder why the worst of men must fight,
And the best of men must die.”
In 1991, the U.S. Postal Service issued a 29¢ stamp honoring the Reuben James.
“Now tonight there are lights in our Country so bright,
In the farms and in the cities they are telling of the fight.
And now our mighty battleships will steam the bounding main,
and remember the name of that good Reuben James.”
NEXT MONTH: ASSAULT ON MOSCOW
Mr. Wimbrow writes from Ocean City, Maryland, where he practices law representing those persons accused of criminal and traffic offenses, and those persons who have suffered a personal injury through no fault of their own.
«Go back to the previous page.“Have you heard of a ship called the Good Reuben James?
Manned by hard-fighting men, both of honor and fame.
She flew the Stars and Stripes of the land of the free,
but tonight she’s in her grave at the bottom of the sea.
Tell me what were their names, tell me what were their names?
Did you have a friend on The Good Reuben James?
What were their names, tell me, what were their names?
Did you have a friend on The Good Reuben James?”
Chances are that you didn’t have a friend on “The Good Reuben James.” It was a four-funneled Clemson class destroyer, which was commissioned on September 24, 1920. It was 314 feet long, weighed 1190 tons and had a top speed of 35 knots. Its main armament was a 3-inch and four 4-inch, guns, supplemented by twelve 21-inch torpedo tubes.
By this time, 70 years ago, although the U.S. had yet to enter the war, the United States Navy was assisting our British cousins by convoying ships to Iceland bound for Great Britain. At Iceland, British warships assumed escort duties. The convoy that the Reuben James was helping to escort was convoy HX156. HX indicated that the ships departed from Halifax, Nova Scotia. The other escorting ships for HX156 were the United States destroyers Niblack, Tarbell, Benson and Hillary P. Jones. The convoy’s ultimate destination was Liverpool. It departed Canada on October 23, 1941.
As Guthrie tells it, “`Twas the last day of October we saved the forty-four
From the cold icy waters off that cold icy Iceland shore.”
“It was there in the dark of that uncertain night that we watched for the U-boats and waited for a fight.”
The “Rube” had been ordered to investigate a faint radio transmission. Just as it was changing position, a torpedo fired from U-552, meant for one of the merchantmen, struck the “Rube” in its forward magazine.
“Then a whine and a rock and a great explosion roared and they laid the Reuben James on the cold ocean floor.”
The bow section of the “Rube” was blown off and sank immediately, taking the captain, Lt. Commander Heywood L. Edwards, and most of the officers. The rest of the crew abandoned ship. But there had been no time to defuse the depth charges. When they reached a depth of 50 feet, they exploded.
“When the good ship went down only 44 were saved” (out of a crew of 159).
The following year, construction began on the “Rube’s” namesake, a destroyer escort which was commissioned on April 1, 1943. The current Reuben James is a guided missile frigate based at Pearl Harbor. In July of that year, construction began on the destroyer Heywood L. Edwards, which saw service in the Pacific.
After Pete Seeger and Guthrie sang Guthrie’s song on CBS Radio, the headline of one newspaper, the next day, read, “COMMIE FOLKSINGERS TRY TO INFILTRATE RADIO.”
The U-552 was commanded by Kapitän Leutnant Erich Topp, who was already a recipient of the Knight’s Cross. The submarine was 13 months old. It had departed its base at St. Nazaire, France, on October 25, 1941. The fatal torpedo was fired about 600 miles west of Iceland. U-552 was nicknamed “Roter Teufel” (“Red Devil”) because it sported a grinning devil painted on its conning tower. After 33 days, the Roter Teufel returned to base.
Although the U-552, and its captain, miraculously survived the war, both were involved in the controversial sinking of the SS David H. Atwater, under the command of William K. Webster, an unarmed coastal steamer, which was hauling coal to Massachusetts, from Norfolk, Virginia. The attack occurred 10 miles off Assateague, Virginia, on the evening of April 2, 1942. The German submarine surfaced and pumped 50 shells into the small freighter from its deck gun. Even as it began sinking, the sub’s crew opened up with machine guns, striking the Atwater’s crew as they attempted to man the life boats. When the Coast Guard cutter Leagre arrived, it found the life boats with dead crew men riddled by machine-gun fire. There were three survivors from a crew of 27. The Leagre delivered the three survivors and four bodies to Chincoteague Coast Guard Station. The rest of the bodies that were recovered were brought to Ocean City, where they were transported, in a pick-up from the boat, to the Ocean City ice plant, then located on Philadelphia Avenue and Somerset Street. There they were iced for shipment to Norfolk. Local resident George Bert. Cropper was called to help in the preparation of the bodies. When asked if the cause of death was apparent, i.e., drowning or gunshot, he said that all died of gunshot wounds and that the bullet wounds were readily apparent. Local resident Frances Mumford, whose brother-in-law, Allen Mumford, worked at the ice plant, remembers there being about a dozen bodies. Neither Captain Topp, nor anyone else, was ever charged with the crime. Captain Topp, the third most successful U-boat captain, later became a Rear-Admiral in the postwar navy of American ally West Germany.
The Reuben James had been named for boatswains’ mate Reuben James who was born in Delaware about 1776, and who served with Lieutenant Stephen Decatur during the famous raid to burn the Philadelphia in the Harbor of Tripoli, Libya, on February 16, 1804. During that engagement James positioned himself between Lieutenant Decatur and a sword-wielding Barbary pirate, taking the blow from the sword. He did survive, as did the Lieutenant. Reuben James continued to serve his country, in the U.S. Navy, until January 1836, when he was forced to retire because of ill health. He died, on December 3,1838, at the U.S. Naval Hospital in Washington, D.C.
Twenty years after the sinking, The Kingston Trio included Guthrie’s song on their album “Close-Up,” with slightly different lyrics. The album reached #3 on the charts and was nominated for a Grammy. Among other differences, the Trio noted that,
“Many years have passed since those brave men are gone,
Those cold icy waters, they’re still and they’re calm.
Many years have passed and still I wonder why the worst of men must fight,
And the best of men must die.”
In 1991, the U.S. Postal Service issued a 29¢ stamp honoring the Reuben James.
“Now tonight there are lights in our Country so bright,
In the farms and in the cities they are telling of the fight.
And now our mighty battleships will steam the bounding main,
and remember the name of that good Reuben James.”
NEXT MONTH: ASSAULT ON MOSCOW
Mr. Wimbrow writes from Ocean City, Maryland, where he practices law representing those persons accused of criminal and traffic offenses, and those persons who have suffered a personal injury through no fault of their own.